Safety razor



A1551 2.5, 1933 i TESTI 1,905,764

SAFETY RAZOR Filed Nov. 19, 1931 gig-g2. *4.10

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Patented Apr. 25, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcl-z NICHOLAS TESTI, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T GILLETTE SAFETY RAZOR COH- PANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE SAFETY RAZOR Application med November 19, 1931.

This invention relates to safety razors of the type in which a thin, flexible blade is maintained in position for shaving by cooperating blade-shaping members.

An object of the invention is to provide a safety razor of this type having an improved and simplified form of clamping mechanism by which the operations of assembling and disassembling the razor are facilitated and the razor adapted to be packaged in a compact manner or within a relatively small container.

It will be understood that the type of safety razor to which my invention relates is that which includes rigid, blade-shaping members,

or members sufficiently rigid in their construction to shape the flexible blade accurately and maintain it reliably in the proper position during the shaving operation. An

important feature of my invention consists in providing one of such co-operating bladeshaping members with an internal resilient section which may be utilized as one element -of the clamping mechanism. Accordingly I may form resilient tongues Within the contour of the guard and in such location that they can be utilized as a portion of the clamping mechanism without in any way interfering with or disturbing those portions of the guard which are critical in determining the shape of the blade.

Where the resilient section is formed in the guard member, the co=operating cap member of the safety razor may be provided with a connecting element such, for example, as a hook which extends into proximity to the resilient sections. As herein shown, I utilize the razor handle as an element of the bladeclamping mechanism and another feature of my invention consists in a handle adapted to be detachably connected with the hook element of the cap and to co-operate with the A.

resilient section or sections of the guard in establishing and maintaining the desired blade-clamping relation of the blade-shaping members and being itself resiliently maintained in upright position by said resilient section.

The desired results are secured as herein shown by providing the guard With connect- Serial No. 576,110.

ed semi-circular slits which define spaced, transversely-extending tongues, the latter by reason of their design and material being resilient, and reacting with the handle in a balanced manner to maintain the desired relationship of parts.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view of the razor in end elevation;

Fig. 2 is a view in longitudinal section;

Fig. 3 is a similar view, showing the handle in folded position;

Fig. 4 is a view in transverse section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view in transverse cross-section on the linel 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a plan View of the guard member;

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view on line 7 7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of one type of blade adapted for use in connection with the razor illustrated Fig. 9 is a view in member;

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the handle as partially disengaged, and

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the razor showing the handle inits folded position. Y

The lprincipal members of the razor comprise a cap and guard with co-operating blade-clamping and shaping surfaces. The cap 10 is of rectangular outline and has an inner concave blade-shaping face with parallel longitudinal edges adapted to engage the blade adjacent to the cutting edges thereof and a pair of spaced blade-locating studs 11 projecting fromvits concave face. The cap also carries va centrally located hook-shaped element 12 which co-operates with the handle in forcing and holding the blade-clamp ing members in operative position, as will presently appear.

The guard member is alsorectangular in contour having an inner convex face upon which the blade is bent by the action of the 100 perspective of the cap cap. The guard is provided with the usual teeth along itsopposite edges which extend beyond the cutting edge of the blade, although for purposes of the present invention 5 the configuration of the guard edge is not material. The guard is further provided with a pair of spaced circular apertures 14 to receive the blade-locating studs 11 of the cap. It has also two semicircular slits 15 which may be substantially concentric with the apertures 14, and which are connected by a' relatively wide central slot 16. The slot is of sufficient width to receive freely the hook 12 of the cap and it, together with the semicircular slits 15 define a pair of wide, tapering, oppositely-disposed tongues extending transversely toward each other. These tongues are sprung slightly downwardl or out from the concave side of the guar as shown in Fig. 7, and are resilient in character on account of their design and material.

One form of blade adapted for use with the cap and guard members described is shown in Fig. 8. The blade 17 is of thin, fiexible material adapted to be bent transversely when clamped between the cap and guard and maintained in use in a position of pronounced transverse curvature. The blade is sharpened at its opposite longitudinal edges and 1s provided with an elongated central slot 18 of sufficient width freely to receive the hook element 12 of the cap. Near each end of the slot 18 is provided with rectangular enlargements 19 arranged to engage on all four sides with the studs 11 and thus positively locate the blade in res ect to the cap 10. The blade is also provide with a central circular opening 20 which is intersected by the slot 18.

The handle 21 of the razor is forked at one end and provided with a cross-pin 22 which is preferably located farther from the square end of the handle than from the sides thereof. The forkedend of thehandle 21 is designed to receive and fit the hook 12 of the cap. Its end is rectangular in outline and of such dimensions that the cross-pin 22 may be forced into. the throat of the hook 12 by slightly deflecting the resilient tongues of the guard member. The hook 12 is reduced in width in its throat portion, as best shown in Fig. 10, and is then somewhat enlarged so that when the cross-pin 22 has once been forced through the throat over the hump at its entrance a limited amount of clearance is afforded. -The cross-pin 22 is located in the forked end of the handle 21 so that the extreme corners of the end of the handle are farther from the axis of the pin than the end face of the handle, and in this manner a resilient locking connection is provided in the razor.

A tubular extension member 23 fits tele- .scopically upon the handle 21 and is provided with a threaded opening in its end which cooperates with a threaded stud 24 pro'ecting 5 from the end of the handle 21. The anda may thus be assembled in the short condition shown in Fig. 2 in which the member 23 is telescopically fitted upon the handle 21, or it may be assembled in elongated osition as shown in Fig. 1 in which the tubu ar member 23 is reversed and acts as the extension.

In assembling the razor herein shown, the blade 17 is first placed upon the cap 10 and then the guard 13 is placed upon the blade with the hook 12 rojecting through the slot 16 of the guard. ith the handle 21 in folded position, as shown in Fig. 10, the crosspin 22 may be inserted into the hook 12 and in this operation the resilient tongues of the guard are sprung inwardly as already explained. When the handle 21 has reached the position shown in Fig. 3 it may then be swung through ninety degrees into the upright position shown in Fig. 2. In this operation the corners of the handle again displace the resilient tongues of the ard and in this final position they are maintained substantially in the eneral curved plane of the guard as shown in ig. 4. Movement of the' handle from this position in either direction can be affected onl by overcoming the balanced yielding reslstance of the resilient tongues, and the result is that the handle is maintained yielding in its normal upright position and at the same time the cap and guard are mainf tained yielding in their blade-clamping position.

When it is desired to disassemble the razor for cleaning or other purposes the handle is again swung into folded position and then pulled forcibly in the direction to disengage the cross-pin 22 from the hook 12, meanwhile momentarily displacing the resilient tongues. The action of these tongues is sufficiently stiff to maintain the handle reliably in upright position while the razor is in use. The arts of the disassembled razor are each smal and consequently the razor can be packed very oompactly or placed within a container of relatively small dimensions.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a safety razor aguard member having a blade-engaging face, said member being formed of resilient material, said member having a central aperture and positioning a ertures spaced from said central aperture, a l of said apertures being in alignment with each other in the longitudinal central portion rial and having a central aperture and positioning apertures spaced therefrom all located in the longitudinal central portion of the member, said member also having a plurality of slits extending divergently from the central aperture, thereby forming a plurality of resilient tongues, tWo of said tongues being deflected from the guard and away from the blade-engaging surface portion, two of said tongues containing the positioning apertures, the edge of each last-mentioned tongue being equally spaced respectively from its aperture.

3. In a safety razor a ard member according to claim l, in w ich the slits and apertures are arranged symmetrically with reference to each other and the guard member, said slits penetrating more than onehalf the Width of guard and in combination with the central aperture more than one-half of the length o the guard.

4. A safety razor guard formed of resilient material, said guard having an oblong central aperture extending longitudinally of said guard, said guard having slits extending divergently from the ends of the central aperture thereby forming a plurality of resilient tongues, two of said tongues extending transversely of said guard and deflected therefrom at their free ends, two of said tongues extending longitudinally of the guard and provided with positioning apertures.

NICHOLAS TESTI. 

